


Climb

by inexorablydrawn



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A/B/O, A/B/O Society, Alpha Kylo Ren, Dark-ish Lite, Everything that happens is super consensual, F/M, Just a weird society, Just weird societal expectations, Mating Bites, Mating Bonds, Omega Rey, Omegaverse, Short Story, Soulmate AU, Soulmates, discussions surrounding pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:53:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24416170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inexorablydrawn/pseuds/inexorablydrawn
Summary: "When Alpha youth first present they are taken from their homes and put to live in solitude alongside the mountainside.At least she got to stay when she presented. For a little bit longer. Not that she’d have to be gone for long. But when she returned, she’d have a mate. At least, that’s what everyone around her hoped.She hoped she found no one at all."--In a society when Omegas come of age, they must go on a pilgrimage to find their exiled mates.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 101
Kudos: 860





	1. Prologue

The mountains that glowed dimly on the horizon looked more daunting than usual.

For all her life, Rey could look out upon the rolling landscape and only think of it as a far off reality. But now, as she was poked and prodded by what seemed to be every single one of her village's healers, she finally feared them.

“You must be so excited!” one of the healers said, an older woman named Kalonia with kind eyes.  
  
Rey couldn’t even muster up a lie in response.  
  
Two more women entered the tent in which they had been stationed and without as much as a proper address, they began to pin her hair off her face, letting some strands fall in little chestnut curls around her shoulders.

It was all part of who she was.

When Alpha youth first present they are taken from their homes and put to live in solitude alongside the mountainside.Rey was told they lived in man-made caves dug out from the mountain terrain until their mates found them. She supposed that was no better life than what was expected of her. At least she got to stay when she presented, for a little bit longer.

Not that she’d have to be gone for long.But when she returned, she would have a mate. At least, that’s what everyone around her hoped.

She hoped she found no one at all.

There had been a handful of Omegas over the years who were sent off on their journey and returned empty-handed. Some were devastated but Rey had always assumed it was a deception put on for the elders. While other unmated women were more open about their relief when they returned. Even though their relief never lasted long. They would just be sent off again during their next cycle in hopes that something had changed.

An Omega two years Rey’s senior, Tallie, had come back without a mate twice now.She always boasted about her continued independence and gave the younger Omega’s advice on how to keep it when it was their turn to make the climb. “Just keep walking. Just keep climbing until you reach the top. Don’t look around, don’t breathe through your nose. Just keep walking up until you can walk back down.”

Now Rey repeated that like a mantra as a thermometer was shoved under her tongue for the third time in the last hour.

“Have you packed?” Kalonia asked, disregarding that the thermometer in Rey’s mouth would make it near impossible to answer clearly. “It can be a long journey. Mine took a week.”

Of course, the _climb_ , as it was so aptly named, wasn’t that extensive. The trail was a day's journey at best. It was the mating that took up the most about of time. Newly mated couples preferred the serenity and privacy of the mountains before returning to the village. Personally, Rey wished the couples could just stay there. While mated couples lived on the opposite side of the village in houses designated for them, there was no denying what noises echoed during the night.

“I have,” Rey mumbled as the thermometer was taken out of her mouth. She had only packed some snacks and a canteen in case she got hungry or thirsty. She wouldn’t be there long. Her mind was set. _Don’t look around. Don’t breathe through your nose. Just keep walking up until you can walk back down._

“You’re about ready!” Kalonia grinned, waving the thermometer slightly.

Rey’s head was suddenly yanked to the side as the beauticians began to comb something into her hair. She couldn’t help but notice that the smell was pleasant, but wasn’t about to ask it’s purpose. Though she swore she saw it shimmer.

The tent’s flap opened again, and maybe this was the worst part of the entire experience. The journey of losing her virginity was extremely well documented and attended. Every person in the village knew it was her first heat after coming of age. Which meant everyone knew what she was about to go do. 

“You look lovely, dear.” The most recent woman to enter the tent had been Leia. The head of the council of elders. She took a steady seat across from Rey and brought their hands together.

Leia had been the closest thing Rey had to a mother these past few years.

So her encouragement at this moment felt more like a betrayal.

Leia had her own child, whom Rey didn’t remember. She didn’t believe they’d actually ever met since Rey hadn’t come to this village until late in her childhood.He presented as an Alpha and hadn’t been seen in the village since. It was possible he was mated and now off in another village, she supposed. Leia stopped mentioning him years ago.

Rey wondered if it was hard for an Alpha’s mother to lose their son. It probably was. A child being taken from their mother is still a child taken, even if they are an Alpha just abiding by the law.

“You look frightened,” Leia observed, some guilt washing over her usually picturesque face.

“No,” Rey lied.

The room grew uncomfortably quiet like they all had the same realization at once. The realization that Rey was indeed terrified.

And before Rey could think better of it, she asked, “how did you know you found the right one with Han?” The words spilled from her lips foolishly. She had no reason to ask this if she had no intention of even looking.

Leia’s brows lifted.

“Oh,” she started and the other women looked at their feet like they weren’t listening, “you just… _know._ I know that’s not the answer you want, but it’s the truth. If you question it, even a little, their not the one. I knew the second I saw that stupid smirk of his. And I hated him for it.”

Rey bobbed her head in the slightest nod while Leia laughed at the memory. The words she spoke sounded so farfetched. To know something so definitively sounded impossible. Most days she couldn’t decide what she wanted for dinner.

“Will you be upset, Leia, if I don’t find someone tonight?” Rey said.

“Did Tallie worry you?” Kalonia stepped back in, and Leia kept her lips closed. “She’s a rare case. Her mate likely hasn’t presented yet. They’ll find each other one day.”

How little everyone in this room understood.

How had they all _liked_ being offered up like a piece of meat, on the brink of heat, to a sea of unmated Alphas?

She’d been through enough lectures in her lifetime about how it wasn’t in an Alphas nature to hurt Omegas. But she wasn’t sure that could be entirely true. Why else would every Alpha be taken from their families and communities until they were mated if they were to be trusted? She was told it was because unmated Alphas were violently territorial towards other unmated alphas regarding potential mates, but she had a hard time believing an Omega was never hurt during these incidents.

“Don’t try to force anything, Rey,” Leia said, brushing back one of the waves from Rey’s face before reaching out a hand so the two could rise to their feet together. “It will all be worth it when you return.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the love for the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this short story. It's fun to explore the world-building in this one. I hope you enjoy!

Unmated Alphas were venomous.

Teachers and healers would never use such words to describe the designation--but that is what they were.

They carried toxins in their teeth that turned Omegas into loyal and submissive mates. Their venom changed them at their will.

When the others described the mating bond they would use more flowery language, but Rey always saw it for what it was. The beta women would relay their envy to Omegas from time to time. Their envy of the unmatched devotion between mates that only Omegas and Alphas could share. But for Rey, who had spent most of her life alone, that devotion seemed like a prison.

Or perhaps she just couldn’t wrap her head around the idea that one person could be _that_ unequivocally devoted to someone. To never run the risk of abandonment or hurt.

Her own parents hadn’t even been devoted enough to their own child.

Though Leia had been a sturdy mother figure in her life, it never truly healed the wounds of being tossed aside in her youth.

Leia had walked with her to the base of the trail after the others had left them at the village gates. Their eager eyes on her the entire time until they were shrouded by the forest. It was mortifying. She could still feel each set of eyes searing into her back though they'd been out of sight for some time.

She couldn’t even look at Rose or Tallie or the other unmated Omegas when she left the tent. They may have tried to wish her well, but she couldn’t remember. She only remembered glimpsing them as she was led out of the village while she repeated Tallie’s mantra:

_Don’t look around, don’t breathe through your nose, just keep walking up until you can come back down._

As the two of them reached the part of the trail where they were due to part, Leia turned to her. She’d been unusually silent thus far and Rey braced for the scolding. Leia was a small woman, but given her presence and command Rey often forgot how petite she was. But as she looked up at Rey with her fiercely brown eyes it was Rey who felt small.

“I know you don’t want to do this,” she said and the words struck Rey like an arrow.A fit of anger surging through her alongside it.

If Leia had _known_ how Rey had felt why would she make her do this? Why would she walk beside her like she cared?

“I—“ Rey began, nearly unable to hold her tongue before Leia held up a finger to stop her.

“Some Omegas are thrilled to make their climbs, to find the one person who will make them feel whole again. Some of us aren’t. But I sometimes find that the loneliest people are the ones who reject companionship the most. The lonely have spent the most amount of time proving they don’t need anyone. Some people make loneliness a choice to make it hurt less.”

The older woman stared, waiting a moment for Rey to respond. She didn’t. She refused. For the reason of being insulted or stunned she wasn’t sure.

“The Caretakers will be on each side of the path,” Leia continued after realizing Rey had no retort. 

The Caretakers were elderly women who watched over the Alphas during the course of the year. They would bring them food and clothing every so often to keep them somewhat adapted to civilian life even though they had been ripped away from it.

“When you descend, the Caretaker stationed there will take you where you need to be-- if needed. They are there to help you.”

Rey doubted it. 

She had only met a few Caretakers in her life and she’d yet to make a good impression with any of them after she accidentally destroyed one of their supply carts. When she failed to find a mate tonight they’d probably be even less fond of her.

“Rey, I know you think you can control what happens up there. But you can’t. Tallie can talk all she wants about how she resisted the call or whatever she likes to boast about back at camp, but when she comes down alone it is because her partner isn’t there yet. They may be on another path in another community or perhaps they haven’t presented yet.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Rey said meeting the woman's gaze.

“I don’t want you to feel like you failed. What happens up there is not a failure. I don’t want you to think of it that way. The souls of an Alpha and Omega are split in the heavens. This is simply the reunion.”

A lovely myth from a different time. And absolute _bullshit_.

_Don’t look around, don’t breathe through your nose, just keep walking up until you can come back down._

Rey wondered if Leia had given the same insistent speech to every Omega who made their way to the climb. Tallie certainly hadn’t mentioned it. So Rey just nodded and adjusted the leather bag with her canteen around her shoulder.

Then, resigned, Leia placed a warm hand against her cheek before turning back towards the village. No more parting words of wisdom. Her part was done.

With that Rey looked onto the expansive forest at the base of the mountain and the trees that worked themselves up the incline. She could have maybe fled into them and hide forever if she’d planned better.

Not that she really wanted to leave. She just didn’t want things to change.

_Some people make loneliness a choice to make it hurt less._

Rey shook that idea out of her head as she took her first step.

—

Rey tried to distract her mind with anything as the trail began, marked with a single glowing lantern. She focused on the feel of the incline on her legs, the cool breeze that helped relieve the earliest symptoms of heat, and the satisfying crunch of leaves under her feet as she walked. If she closed her eyes, she could believe the gentle touch of nature was nothing but soothing.

Rey had been walking for about a half an hour without crossing a single Alpha den. Maybe they were so well hidden that she’d been passing them the entire time and she hadn’t even noticed. Maybe all of this stress was over nothing and this would be the easiest hike of her life. Peaceful even. The birds chirped as the sun set lower over the horizon, the orange glow on the skyline proving the be breathtaking.

Enough that Rey forgot one of Tallie’s rules.

_Don’t breathe through your nose._

In what Rey had mindlessly expected to be a fresh breath of evergreen and wildflowers proved to be the foulest thing she’d ever experienced in her life. She choked on the air as if her body was trying to reject it and she quickly began looking around for the source.

It shouldn’t have surprised her to see what must have been an Alpha den about twenty feet from where she stood. It was exactly how the others had described it. A shallow cavern dug out from the mountainside. A small lantern, much like the one at the path's entrance, illuminated the trail for the outside.

Rey stopped mid-step to try to clear her throat again.

Were all unmated Alphas this rancid? Mated Alphas didn’t smell like this. They were generally pleasant smelling, not particularly alluring, but pleasant. Maybe this was the reason unmated Alphas were taken. No one would be able to breathe if they were all this foul.

She took a deep breath through her mouth to help cleanse her airway and held it. The memory of the stench alone had her too afraid to breathe again. She clapped her hand over her mouth and nose to serve as an additional filter as she began to push herself to run past the cave's entrance. Not even bothering to look to see what exactly had lived in there.

About 20 yards away Rey released her hand, testing the air again with a small sniff. The stench had subsided and Rey took a full gasp of in relief.No wonder Tallie had been so vocal about not breathing in through your nose. Rey had assumed it was due to the alluring nature of an Alpha but it turned out it was because this was going to be _way_ easier than she thought.

It wasn’t more than ten minutes of walking before she saw another lantern signifying the next Alpha den. Rey prepped herself for the odor to hit her but was surprised when nothing crossed her senses at all. She inhaled deeply through her nose again to be sure.

Nothing at all.

The den might have been empty ahead. It could have been someone who had found their mate and returned to their village. As Rey approached the opening her curiosity won and she took the tiniest peek into the cave when another pair of eyes looked back at her.

“Rey?” The voice called out. The voice almost giddy at the recognition.

It took her a moment for her to see him as he walked out into the light. “Finn!?”

Memories flooded her as the man approached her with open arms, rushing to her to pick her up in a strong embrace. Finn had been a close friend of both her and Rose before he presented a few years back. It must have been nearly five years since she’d last seen him but he was still so similar. Stocky and handsome with flawless dark skin. The only real difference was that his once shorn hair was now worn in short matted braids.

“I can’t believe it! How are you?” He said, his enthusiasm never wavering.“Shit, I’m breaking all sorts of rules. I just can’t believe it’s you!”

“Breaking rules?”

“We’re not supposed to approach Omega’s until they—well—approach us. The Caretakers don’t take too lightly to Alpha bullshit.”

Rey sniffed the air around him again. Nothing. Her brow furrowed and Finn shook his head.

“Don’t bother with the scent thing. We’re not mates or anything.” Finn said like considering the idea was insane.

“But I can’t smell you at all. It’s almost like your—“

“Not an Alpha?” Finn finished. “Yeah, just because I’m male and I presented with a mating gland doesn’t make me an Alpha.”

It took Rey a minute. “Wait— you’re an Omega?” Male Omegas were extremely rare, only a handful had been documented in history. So rare that most people didn't believe they existed. “You shouldn’t be here then! You shouldn’t have been made to leave! You can come home, come home with me!”

“Whoa, Rey! Calm down. I don’t mind. They made a mistake, sure, but I don’t mind. I didn’t realize it until a few months in.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I live on a private mountain covered in Alphas. It’s not that bad. Not all of the Alphas live in solitude all the time.”

She blushed.

“More chances for me to find my mate too, I guess. I've met nearly every Alpha at one point on this mountain.” He shrugged, a pull at the corner of his lips. “No luck for you thus far?”

Rey huffed. “I’ve only seen one Alpha den and it smelled like garbage.” She shivered, inclining her head in the direction of the past den. “Plus, do you remember Tallie?”

“Of course.”

“She’s come down twice without a mate. Maybe you’ve even seen her? That’s my plan.”

Finn looked at her for a moment, then simply added, “Good luck with that.” Rey wasn’t sure if he’d actually meant it or if he was mocking her.

Rey squinted, looking back her shoulder to the rapidly setting sun. Though Rey didn’t fear the dark and would have lanterns guiding her way up the path, it would probably be easiest to travel while there was some light. And she still had a long way to go.

“I can walk with you, if you want the company since you aren’t doing the whole mating things anyway—“ Finn said, noticing Rey’s gaze towards the horizon. “At least to the top.”

“It’s alright,” Rey said, without even really considering the offer, “I don’t mind going alone. Especially if you aren’t going to go home too.”

There was a sort of sad smile on his face as he said, “of course.”

_Some people make loneliness a choice._

_Stop._

Before Rey could let her mind race too much, she embraced her friend in a quick farewell.

“I hope you do come home soon though,” Rey shouted as she stepped back onto the path, “So I guess I hope you find what you're looking for up here.”

“Same to you, my friend,” he saluted her off and turned back into the den.

—

Each Alpha den was different than the last in terms of scent. Rey still kept her eyes forward and only forward as her hike went on, as per Tallie’s instructions, but the scents had become a bit of a game. Most were foul. Like rotting eggs and death. But others were interesting. Not so enticing that they tempted her, but they didn’t make her want to gag. One reminded her of good beef stew. Not a bad scent in itself but an odd scent for an Alpha to carry. She wondered if those were potential mates, the ones who didn’t smell awful, but Leia said she would _know_. Definitively know without a doubt. She had doubts about _beef stew_.

After one last den which Rey was sure had actually been taken over by a skunk she couldn’t make out the next lantern on the path. The trail had become hauntingly dark ahead which meant she must have been close to the top. Even though she was still hiking up an incline.

The way Tallie had boasted about returning alone had Rey thinking this might have been a challenge.Rey hadn’t seen even the eyes of an Alpha the entire night. No sign of life aside from the smells since Finn. The thought suddenly occurred to her that maybe she had smelled just as rancid to them as they did to her. Maybe they hid deeper into their caves when she passed because she was just as awfully unappealing. Unlovable. 

_Stop it._

This is what she _wanted_. She wanted to be unmated and left alone to her own devices. She didn’t need an Alpha partner to take care of her and love her and need her too. She wanted to be alone.

 _Alone_. Amongst the trees and the wilderness. The rapidly cooling breeze making her skin prickle. Rey had lost track of how long it had been since the sun had disappeared. The path ahead was completely devoid of light. Only darkness laid ahead.

The light of the moon gave her no comfort as the gentle winds that once brought her relief now sent chills down her spine. Her steady heart now raced as her pace quickened. She must have been close to the top now. A Caretaker would be there on the decline to take her home.

That’s when she saw it. A light. Another lantern in the distance. But it was brighter than a normal lantern. As Rey got closer she realized that it actually was the light of a campfire. The smell of it like a relaxant through her body.

The smell of crackling wood, of warmth, of light. The air now filled with the smell of the ocean even though there was no shoreline for miles and miles.Her tongue tasted of chocolate. The sweetness making her smile to herself as she neared the source of the glow.

Maybe the altitude was making her the tiniest bit silly.

At first, she only saw his back, facing the cliff's edge. His back bare and muscled with a constellation of dark freckles across it and black hair that nearly melted into the night sky fell to his shoulders, only illuminated by the reddish hue of the fire.

She gasped.

At the sound, he turned to face her, still a stone's throw away, and she couldn’t breathe. His eyes were wide as they met hers, stunned and almost frightened.

Her eyes pricked and blurred.

She thought about Leia. How the woman had known her mate the second she saw him smile. She thought about how she would have to tell her story, about how she cried the first time she saw him without exchanging a single word.

Not because she was sad. Not because she had failed what she had set out to do.

But because it was the first time in her life she knew she wasn’t going to have to be alone anymore.

“It’s you,” he said. His voice was like silk in her ears. Deep and gravelly yet smooth. Then all fear in his features faded into relief, and he was beautiful.Beautiful in a way she couldn’t even put words too. He was built strongly and largely like most Alphas but there was something in his features that bled beauty. Something that was all soft and wise but hard and stern.

He stepped towards her while she was paralyzed to move any closer.

“I—“ Rey choked out, unsure of what to say, “I’m sorry.”

Her first words to him. Words he had no context for.   
  
_'I'm sorry I made you wait. I'm sorry I said I didn't need you. I'm sorry I said I didn't want you.'_

Everything she wanted to say but couldn't. 

Each step he took the more intoxicated she felt.

“What for?”

She couldn't continue or give him a reason. Her throat burned as she tried, and failed, to stop herself from crying long enough to tell him something. But God forbid, she felt herself smile at him.

One of his dangerously large hands reached out. A movement so slow and careful that she didn’t even comprehend that he was reaching out towards her.His hand landed on her cheek where his thumb gently brushed, wiping the tears that continued to fall.

She knew.

There wasn’t a single doubt in her mind as their bodies were now just inches from each other.

“I missed you,” he said. 

The other half of himself. The one that had been split in the heavens.

Then he lowered his head to the crook of her shoulder. His teeth at her neck.

Without even knowing her name, or her his, he bit. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for the support on the first chapter!   
> Hope you all enjoy the little brain break from the world, and as always, keep fighting the good fight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mild Trigger Warnings for mentions of blood.   
> This chapter is really just smut, I never write anything too graphic but of course, this is A/B/O so it's more than my usual writing.

As soon as he bit, she felt his tongue began to stroke at the puncture. The warmth of fresh blood dripped down her shoulder and began to soak into the neckline of her dress. She was almost limp as he pulled closer against his bare chest. His stupidly soft mouth never missing a beat.

Unsurprisingly, he seemed to be made of solid muscle. But there was a softness to that strength that she hadn’t expected. A warmth that made her never want to leave. It made her want to be wrapped up with him on this mountain forever.

She suddenly wished she had paid more attention when the healers had lectured her and the other young Omegas about the bonding stages of mating. For years prior to her making the climb there had been time set aside to make sure everything was incredibly clear. These sessions had always been awkward and embarrassing and met with childish giggles from the omegas, but now, she really wished she’d paid more attention.

For there was a reason they sent Omegas on their climb on the brink of heat.

She felt it in her bones now. She knew the basics of how it would work but having to put it to practice was a whole new hurdle for her. One she wasn’t sure she could make when her head was now swimming from the bite.

_Unmated Alphas were venomous._

The bite itself set off a chain of hormonal commands that reacted like a parade inside every sector of her body, strongly surging at her core.

She’d been in heat before. Heat cycles begin early in puberty. Unmated Omegas were granted a private cabin offsite to deal with them. They were always miserable times that made Rey grateful that an Omega’s fertility cycle aligned with seasonal cycles rather than the Beta’s alignment with monthly moon cycles.

His tongue lapped against her until it morphed into soft, languish kisses up her jawline. She had to bite back the groan in the back of her throat as he began. Everything that touched her skin felt unreal. Even the pulsing pain of her mating gland still filled her with excitement.

“The taste of you— it’s perfect,” he muttered against her cheek. The sensation of his breath making her skin prickle.

Then he kissed the corner of her mouth. Carefully. Testing.

She had never kissed anyone before, not in this sense. She had shared small kisses with her friends as by way of greeting, but something lasting and passionate was far beyond her know-how.

But whatever creature lived in her veins now had no reservations about her lack of experience. A moment after his lips touched hers she tilted her face to meet his and accepted him fully.

She never imagined an Alpha’s lips could be so soft. How he had managed to keep them like this after living up on a mountainside she didn’t know. But if she had tasted perfect, he had tasted Godly.

The taste was something she couldn’t define. But it was hers and hers alone.

By the light of the crackling fire, his hands drifted down to her backside. Then quickly and effortlessly she was hoisted up into the air, her legs instinctively wrapping around him for support. The hem of her dress riding up dangerously around her waist.

The plain and awful ceremonial dress they’d put her in lacked in any flattery, but now with the bloodstains at the neck and how in bunched between them, she probably looked more like the one who’d lived on a mountainside.

When her eyes met him again, in a moment almost too intimate, he leaned back from the kiss. His eyes. There was something almost ancient in his eyes that made Rey want to believe in all the myths she’d been told. Without considering it, her palms cupped his jaw and she held him. Firmly enough so she could take one more breath to truly see him.

She knew it would probably be a while before they could appreciate a stillness between them again.

Then she pulled him back to her, clumsily slanting her mouth against his in a way that could only be described as juvenile and desperate, but he didn’t seem to mind as he stumbled back towards his den. Holding her up with one hand as he felt his way against the rock with the other, passing by the small lantern that had marked his living space like the other Alphas had.

The mountainside, especially so high up, had to be private. But Rey supposed it was for the best to go somewhere more sheltered. Though admittedly she liked the idea of completing their mating next to the flickering burn of the fire outside.

Inside the darkness of the Den, Rey’s eyes hadn’t even adjusted before she was deposited onto a pile of what must have been furs. What must have been his bed. As her vision became more clear she couldn’t help but notice how soft they were. Plusher than anything she had been gifted. Maybe isolation hadn’t been so bad for the Alphas if they were presented with these amenities.

The Alpha knelt in front of her. Every bit of him large and overwhelming and breathtaking. His very presence made it hard for her to fill her lungs fully and by the way his wide mouth gaped as his gaze bore into her she had a feeling she had a similar effect.

“I—I was starting to think I’d never meet you,” he said in a voice so low that she wasn’t sure if he’d actually meant to say it, “that I was meant to be alone.”

She wondered how long he had actually been up here. How many _months_? How many _years_?

“I thought the same thing,” she replied, choosing not to clarify that she had convinced herself she had actually been hoping for it.

Leia had been right after all. It was far easier to go through life choosing to be alone rather than suffer through loneliness. No one could pity you if you chose that life for yourself.

All her life she had been told there were benefits to being designated. Alphas and Omegas were biologically built for survival mores than their Beta counterparts. But more than that, they were never destined to be alone in the world.

It was amazing how that prospect when from horrifying to beautiful in just a matter of minutes.

“Your dress,” he said pointedly, and at first, Rey thought this to be some sort of demand until she saw the red at her neck. The once white fabric stained. “I’m sorry.”

There was only a dull ache from the wound now. Her body now aching for something else.

“It was an awful dress,” she said in a voice she didn’t know she was even capable of. The sultry sound had him lunging atop her. The two now pressed into the furs with only the outline of him illuminated by the fire outside.

“I’m sure you’ll feel better without it.”

She couldn’t believe what was happening. It was even harder to believe how much she wanted it.

Still, she swallowed as she carefully plucked at the buttons that ran down her chest. He watched intently from above, or rather—impatiently—, as each pop revealed an inch more of her skin.

Then once the skin above her heart was revealed he lowered himself to it. A small gasp escaped her lips as his mouth touched her and his hands took over and he ripped the rest of the dress down the middle.

“It was ruined anyway,” he grumbled, the vibrations shooting through her like lightning. And while he had a point, that was the only article of clothing she had brought with her and they’d have to leave the mountain eventually. But as his lips grazed the gentle curve of her breast she couldn’t spare another thought on it.

She never imagined she’d react quite so much to being touched or kissed. All of those over romantic sentiments she’d always heard never sounded realistic. But as he worked the scrap of clothing off her shoulders and threw it to the floor and she was back to being truly was nothing but a puddle in his hands.

A shiver ran down her spine as a chilled breeze past through the open cavern. While the warmth of the Alpha above her provided some heat, he took notice and grabbed another large fur to lay across both of them.

The warmth was overwhelming but in the best of ways.

When their lips met again, it was slower. Her hands glided up into his hair and pulled him in just slightly. It almost felt like they had loved each other for years and lifetimes.

He grazed the underside of her breast with a calloused thumb and ran it tenderly over her nipple. The thrill of it made her shudder. His muscled tensed for a moment, fearing he had done something wrong, but as she slipped her tongue into his mouth he’d gotten the encouragement he needed to keep going.

Rey had never been bare in front of a male before. Before all of this she had the passing thought that an Alpha might think she was too thin or her breasts were too small. Those worries now seemed excessive as she felt his hardening length against her thigh as he settled between them.

There would be tenderness, softness, lovemaking another time. They both knew it. This time, their first time, would be fueled by something feral. It was about accepting the bond he’d offered her. Encouraging it to set into their bodies. Setting light to the hormones and the changes they both would experience as the night went on.

She tried to reach for his waistband but fumbled doing anything productive with it. He shifted, slipping out of them himself, and tossed the last piece of clothing between them to the wayside.He placed his muscled forearms on either side of her shoulders and she knew her face had gone bright red.

She gaped when she _looked_.

All Alphas were large to some degree in terms of physique. But she’d admittedly never thought how that would translate to other body parts.

Her tongue slid just slightly out of her lips at the sight of it. The wetness between her legs growing. It was a daunting sight but one her body was sending signals she was more than willing to accept.

His fingertips traced her jawline and their gazes met again.

“If it’s too much—“ he began, a heat in his stare that was difficult to hold. He paused for only a moment as Rey gave him a small understanding nod and he took hold of himself to guide himself towards her entrance.

_How could this all go so fast, yet not fast enough—_

She couldn’t hold back the small yelp as he pushed inside of it. It wasn’t necessarily from pain but rather from the surprise of the foreignness of this feeling. The feeling of having one's heat shared and relieved by an actual partner.

Barely halfway in, he pressed his forehead to hers. She held her breath as the ache of the stretch filled her body while his head turned towards her neck and the bite he left. Even just the smallest kiss against her mating gland began to relieve the sharpness and he continued to inch in.

Only when he was fully inside her, was she able to release the air from her lungs. The fear of being split in two burning away as the pleasure of fullness consumed her.

“Can I—“

“Move,” she finished with more demand than intended, but this seemed to spur him in a good way. He pulled back then in with a sort of force that slid her back up against the cavern wall. He placed a hand against the stone to keep them from colliding with it but _oh_ how she couldn’t wait to have all the time in the world with him.

His teeth bit and nipped at every inch of her skin as he continued to thrust into her. His free hand slid between her legs to begin rubbing small circles along her folds.

It was so different, so much better, when someone else did it.

When her _mate_ did it.

Not long after the ache has completely disappeared she felt a build towards another more familiar sensation. But this time, it was coming in stronger than she’d ever experienced. Her inner walls began to pulse and then everything around her fell apart. The blood in her veins boiled. Her core fluttered. She saw stars where there were none.

She wasn’t prepared for the knot. She was too busy counting the bursts of light behind her eyes when he shuddered and groaned into the crook of her neck. The stretch of it could have shattered her, she was sure of it. The swelling at the base of his length that would ensure the beginning of their emotional bonding.

She was still undone when his release came. His bodyweight collapsed onto hers, just catching himself on his shaking forearms.

They laid there for a moment in the silence. Both trying their best to relearn how to breathe.

Then, attempting not the pull too much on the area they were still connected-- and would be for some time-- the Alpha arched her back with his arm and flipped them both so they were in reversed positions. Rey now tucked nicely atop his chest under the mound of blankets. The flame outside still vibrant enough to see his shadowed features.

“I don’t know your name.” She said as he nuzzled under her chin.

He stiffened. His hands went tight around her hips. 

“Ben.” He laid his head back down, his sleepy eyes gone wide like he’d been shocked they’d made it this far without simple niceties. “I’m sorr—“

“Rey.” She said in return. Resting herself against his chest and pulling the furs up around her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry,” he mumbled, the red in his skin deepening, “I wasn’t thinking. I should have been more—“

“Ben...” She said the name softly to herself, loving how it formed on her lips. “Ben…” She even liked how their names sounded together. It was like a spell. She couldn’t stop smiling at _her_ Ben and traced his jaw over and over just to remind herself that he was real. Real and hers.

Then she saw _it._

She should have known the instant he said his name.

It was in his eyes. His lips. His nose. His hair.

The eyes of his mother. Unmistakable. Wise but deep and doe-like. 

The grin of his father. The same dumb smirk that Leia said she’d fallen for the moment she saw him.

This Alpha. Her Alpha. The other part of her being that had been taken from her in the heavens— was Leia Organa and Han Solo’s son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it's action first, learn basic things like names second. :D  
> Thanks for reading! The response to this fic has honestly made me so happy. I'm glad you'll enjoy this little novella!   
> There will likely be 5 or 6 chapters total!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys again for the crazy amount of support on this short story! I'm glad it is being enjoyed :D  
> Please keep note of new tags!

“You’re—,” the realization made her stammer, “You’re Leia’s son!?” She gasped. Jolting upwards from her position atop him that caused him to hiss. She’d nearly forgotten about the knot from the sudden momentary shock. “Sorry!”

His expression softened and he laughed a little as she relaxed back onto his chest. Clearly not in too much pain. She rested her chin against one of his pectorals and Ben’s brows knit together, “You know her?”

“I’m from her village. She’s been almost like a mother to me ever since—“ she stopped herself. She didn’t want to change the subject. She didn’t want to weigh him down with any baggage of hers just yet given he had also been taken from his family in a sense too.

His eyes went wide. “You are from Chandrilla?” He cocked his head as if he was scraping his mind for a memory of her from his time there. “Your accent—“

“I wasn’t born there,” Rey quickly clarified, “I came there when I was young though.”

Then it dawned on her. She had never met Leia’s son. He had already presented when she had arrived with her parents so that meant he must have been here for... the thought broke her heart.

“How long?” The words fell from her lips before she could think better of asking. She saw the pain in his eyes the moment she asked.

“I… I’ve lost track of the exacts some time ago,” he began, turning his head towards the wall as if it were more interesting. “I’ve counted fifteen winters though. So somewhere around that.”

_Fifteen years._

Alone. Taken. Stolen from his family for _fifteen years._

Waiting.

Waiting for _her._

He was exiled away from everything he'd known for so long because of her. If it was true that each person only had one true mate, he would have been lost to the world forever if she had succeeded in trying to deny her climb.

The Alpha must have noticed the change in her expression for he reached up and traced her jaw.

“You are here now. That’s all I could have asked for. I would have waited a lifetime just to have one night with you.”

But her heart still ached. It had been her fault. She had done everything in her power to delay his return even if she hadn't meant it. To keep him from his family. To keep him from finding his own happiness.

“I— I can’t imagine being alone for all that time.”

Though, she could. She had also been alone all these years in a sense. Despite friendships, despite Leia, at the end of the day, her own parents had left her all on her own. A child left to raise herself.

He arched his back slightly, to find a more comfortable position, and a small moan left her lips as he did. She’d still felt so raw in the best of ways.

“I’m not always alone. The caretakers come by every week or so—“ He trailed off. “Though I can’t say they care for me much.”

“Nor can I,” she rolled her eyes with a pull at the corner of her lips, “I broke one of their supply carts once and now they all have it in for me.”

He let out a deep belly-laugh that made her cheeks go warm. “How did you manage that?”

“Rotten luck and a poorly placed boulder.”

He closed his eyes, settling his face into a small crooked smile. “My mother has been sneaking things to me through them.” He shook his head. “Direct contact isn’t allowed so I think she found… alternative methods.I think the ol’ gals respect her enough to break the rules for her, but as a result, they think I’m spoiled.”

“No wonder your furs are so nice,” Rey muttered, dragging her finger down one. The gentle fibers ticking her skin.

“I think she sneaks things onto the cart and gives them an extra coin for it,” he continued, “but also, that sounds more like something my father would do.”

Rey grinned just imagining it. Han and Leia sneaking dried fruits and clothing to their only son. Sneaking gold coins to the hardheaded Caretakers to stay quiet about the delivery.

“She misses you,” Rey said after a moment. “She’ll be so happy you are coming home.”

“…” His eyes blinked opened but they didn’t meet hers. His mouth went thin. “I hope so.”

He released a long breath and tucked a strand of loose hair behind Rey’s ear before bringing her back down for a light kiss.

It was a wonderfully foreign feeling still— being kissed. Inexplicably soft and warm. A single overly large hand covered the entire side of her face to the back of her head. As the cool breeze ran through the cave, it felt like they were the only two people in the world. A private paradise built for just the two of them to share.  
  


—

When Rey woke to morning light seeping into the cave’s entrance she was beside him, trapped underneath one of his massive arms. She wasn’t sure when he had been able to slip out of her, but her hips still ached from being awkwardly positioned for so long.

His breath was deep and steady. Still, sound asleep. Surprisingly silent. She had hoped she didn't snore too much.

It could have all been a dream. It almost seemed like it. A completely surreal dream unlike anything she could have ever imagined.

As he slept she counted the freckles and moles on his face and shoulders, already wanting to memorize them. Already wanting to know him better than any person ever would. She wondered if she had fallen asleep before him if he had counted her freckles if he had thought the same thing about her.

Omegas and Alphas were encouraged to take the opportunity to celebrate their mating on the privacy of the mountainside. They would have to return eventually before the next Omega made her climb, but they would have a few days at the very least.

Leaning up slowly as not to wake Ben, Rey found herself wishing she hadn’t been such an idiot when refusing to pack extra clothing. Her dress, and only set of clothing, remained as scraps at their bedside.

Not that she had any real plans for clothing just yet as she sensed heat fill her core, but she would need something eventually. She wasn’t about to climb down this mountain exposed to the elements. She would already be self-conscious enough coming down with mated given how much she’d sworn she’d return alone.

The concept hit her again. She wouldn’t be alone. She wouldn’t have to be alone ever again. Instinctually she leaned forward and pressed the smallest kiss to the tip of her mate's long nose.

Then, like a prince out a storybook, he awoke. Like he thought she would be nothing but a dream, he looked at her in utter relief. “Good morning.” The gravel in his voice from sleep made her heart pound. He brought his arm up and pulled her back close to him so that their lips were barely grazing each other. The feeling made her skin prickle.

Rey couldn’t even think well enough to reply before he took her lips fully with his own. Rolling them with one swift movement so his chest was pressed atop hers again. She wanted to scold herself for how much she liked this, the added weight. How much she liked to be cradled by his arms and pressed into like this. She would have thought she’d feel vulnerable like this but instead she only felt warm and safe.

Then, as she worked on shifting her legs around him, they both froze at the sound of a loud cough coming from the cave's entrance.

“Sorry to interrupt,” said an older female voice that sounded assuredly not sorry.

Before Rey could look at who it was Ben’s head collapsed into the crook of her neck in defeat. “I was under the impression we were supposed to be left undisturbed,” he called back.

“Ah, so you _do_ know the rules,” the bitter voice called back. Rey managed to tilt her head back to see one of the Caretakers silhouetted by the morning light.The woman pointed to the lit torch at the cave's entrance that still flickered as it had the night before.

“Kriff.” Ben replied, lifting his head with the slightest of blush on his cheeks. Rey furrowed her brow in bemusement.

“Mate found. Flame _out_. We were all worried that something horrible might have happened to her.” Though, given Rey’s relationship with the Caretakers, they were probably more upset about the fact that the rules were broken rather than the possibility of her disappearance.

“I’m fine,” Rey said meekly as Ben rolled off of her.

“If an Omega chooses to stay with an Alpha, the lantern goes out. That’s how we _know_ not to _interrupt_. Given the current state of your lantern--” she pointed again, “how would I have known?”

Ben’s hands covered his face as if he wanted nothing more for this to be just some sort of nightmare scenario he could wake up from.And despite being interrupted mid-make-out bare naked, Rey only found herself restraining a laugh.

“So yes, I’m breaking the rules because _you_ broke the rules.”

“There were _distractions._ ”

The woman breathed out a gruntled sigh and murmured some choice words about Alphas under the breath before walking out of view of the den.

After a painfully quiet moment, Rey found the daring to ask, “Is she gone?”

Ben rubbed his face again. “I doubt it, she’s probably gathering the others to scold us some more and to prove you haven’t been eaten by bears.”He gave her a small apologetic kiss on the cheek before getting out of the bed and tugging on his pants from the night before. Rey watched and gazed back are her uselessly shredded dress in the dirt.

“Uh, Ben,” Rey said, “do you have anything I could wear? I don’t— I didn’t pack other clothes.”

Ben squinted, “You didn’t pack other clothes?”

Rey twisted her lips before they went into a line. This wasn’t the time to talk about that either. She didn’t want to talk to him about not wanting him before. Not yet. Not after their morning have already been thrown off so much.

“I have some extra shirts. Should be long enough on you for you to wear on their own,” he continued, either too impatient to wait for an answer or sensing her uneasiness on the topic.

He walked into the back of the den where Rey spotted a row of baskets and crates that must have been used for storage while he was there. He dug through one and pulled out a long grey tunic before returning to the beside to hand it to her.

“Thank you,” she managed, looking back at the entrance of the cave to make sure it was still clear before exposing herself to pull the shirt over her head.

It smelled like him. Perfectly so. Even as he was just inches away from her the extra dosage of his scent made her mating gland throb. She lifted the fabric to her nose, smiling just to be able to breathe him in. Then when she looked back at him she noticed the worry on Ben’s face had faded just a little, as if something about her gesture made him less nervous.

“Thank goodness, finally some modesty up on this mountain.” Rey jumped. Ben’s assumption had been correct in that the Caretaker would return, but instead of with others, she returned with a large wooden crate. It looked like it would have been burdensome for a woman her age to carry alone but she did it effortlessly.

“I’m sure the others will be thrilled to learn you haven’t been lost to the wilderness. In the meantime, I have your supplies. Solo.”

She dropped the crate with a loud thud and Ben stood to full height to meet her. Ben started to speak to the woman but Rey couldn’t quite make out what he had said or asked, but she did see the Caretaker's face go from slightly annoyed to slightly guilty. “It may have been insinuated that she would be here,” she said.

Ben scoffed, sounding a little playful before turning back to Rey. “Right.”

The woman and Ben gave their best attempt at polite goodbyes before turning away. Rey tried to give a parting pleasantry herself but was promptly ignored.

“You are right, they really don’t like you,” Ben said, leaning over the crate to pick through what was inside it.

“Shut up,” she teased.

Ben brought the box back towards where Rey was sitting on the blankets and plopped it next to her. He removed the clothing from the top of the bin and took it back to the baskets in the back.

Rey looked down at the crate's remainders. A specially coated leather in case of rain. Some wrapped dried meats. Vegetables and other foodstuffs.

“ _Oh_ ,” Rey couldn’t help herself from saying allowed. _Jogan Fruit_. Better known as the fruit of fertility to Omegas.

Even though Omega’s had a particular talent for breeding that was cherished in villages, it was actually unbelievably rare for an Omega to become pregnant during her mating. The hormonal changes that happened during mating were extremely overwhelming to the reproductive system, so it was rare for it to occur without assistance.

And the Caretakers had just hand-delivered that assistance.

It wasn’t a guarantee, eating the fruit. But it left the question up in the air. Ben had turned back towards Rey upon hearing her exclamation and the look they shared meant they both knew it had to be addressed.

Rey wanted a family. She knew that. She wanted to be the mother her own mother wasn’t. But she was still young and struggled with her own place in the world. Even if she had an Alpha by her side she wasn’t sure she was ready to bear a child just yet. She wasn’t even sure she could be a good enough partner to her own mate. Despite part of him already flowing through her veins.

“Is that—,“ he eyed the fruit carefully like it might attack at any moment, “Is that something you want?” Rey’s gut twisted when she heard the strain in his voice.

He had some years on her. While he looked young in age he must have been a handful of years older than her if he’d already been here for fifteen years. It was possible he was already ready for children. That he wanted to begin that part of his life as soon as possible as so much of his life was already wasted up on some mountain.

Her throat tightened.

“In some ways, I still feel like a child myself,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. “In other ways, I had to grow up faster than most others.”

He would understand. He had to understand. He was her missing half, he _would_.

“I do want a family— one day. But I’d like to adjust to sharing my life with one person first. A lot is changing for me when we return home and I don’t think I’m ready—“

His palms reached for her jaw, cupping it gently. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” He spoke like he considered every word. “We don’t need to work with anyone’s timeline except out own. We will do things when we are ready.”

“Do you want children?” she asked, not even considering the possibility that maybe he didn’t.

He smirked. His father’s son. “I do, as you said, one day.”

“One day.” She repeated. The anxious ice in her veins melting. That coolness turned into a spike of heat in her core.

“But in the meantime,” he said, lowering himself to press his lips against her neck, “We can have plenty of practice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will probably be two chapters left but I'm not changing it quite yet! I just want to see where the next chapter takes us before changing that number!  
> Thank you again!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys! Quarantine really is the perfect time to write but it's also the time to feel no motivation at the lack of light at the end of the tunnel... but I hope you guys enjoy!  
> I added another chapter so I could get this one out quicker, but 6 will be the last chapter of this short story! I hope you enjoyed it!

Even after several days, mating hormones were unlike anything Rey had ever experienced. While she had experienced the emotional whirlwind of Heat several times before, the addition of mating hormones had her feeling half crazy at all times.

“I can’t believe you didn’t want me,” Ben had said, holding back a laugh that made her whole body go hot with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.Though, she supposed, he had a right to tease her. He was currently knotted inside of her after she’d come undone around him following a string of desperate pleas.

The morning had started with Rey waking to her the repulsiveness of her own scent. At first, she considered the possibility of it just being a side effect of her scent changing, but after three days of sex and no bathing, it was very likely there were other contributing factors.

Ben had taken them to one of the hot springs that the Alphas used that wasn’t too far off the trail.It was secluded enough that she felt comfortable stripping down to sink into the water, but they both acknowledged that it wasn’t quite private enough for them to partake in their more intimate practices.

_How quickly that stance crumbled._

Rey was beginning to accept that if she ever wanted to get anything accomplished again, she would need to make sure her mate was out of scenting range. Once the warm water began to soothe her aching muscles, and his large hands began massaging her shoulders, she crawled onto him within seconds. Not that he complained. This was to be one of their last days on the mountain before they would need to return home.

And any Alpha with half a nose would know to stay far away from this particular body of water for the next couple of hours.

It was a variety of factors that made her confess. It was her mating hormones reaching their peak alongside her Heat. It may even have been the slight thrill of doing something so intimate out in the open. It probably was a combination of those things that made her feel so incredible that halfway through the act she confessed everything to him out of crushing guilt.  
  
Guilt that she could feel so good and be so happy when she didn’t want this life for herself just a few days ago.

But he didn’t even break stride. It was as if he had never heard her at all. But there was a change in his expression. Though instead of a face a betrayal it was almost as if he were spurred on by the admission. 

It had paid off for her. She had come so hard that seconds of her memory was gone. When she regained the ability to process existence it was only at the sensation of the warm water lapping against her back that she had any semblance of where she was. Her face was slumped against her shoulder as she straddled his lap under the water.

That’s when he said it.

_“I can’t believe you didn’t want me.”_

“You’re a real ass you know that?” Rey muttered when she could manage. She could feel the vibration of laughter in his chest.

“I’ve been told.” His arms wrapped around her back and he began drawing shapes into her skin below the surface. “But you're stuck with me, it seems.”

Rey wasn’t sure if he meant literally or figuratively since they were both currently true.

“I thought you would react differently if I’m being honest,” she huffed, not being able to resist kissing the pulsing vein against his neck. “I thought you’d be upset your mate didn’t want you.”

“Do you still feel that way?”

“No.”

“Then I’m not upset. Rey, I’m not going to be upset that someone didn’t love me before they met me.”

She buried herself again in his shoulder. “But… I’ll admit I’m afraid of how the other Omegas may react when I return home with you.”

He was quiet at first then Rey mustered up the courage to look at him directly to see his brow had furrowed a bit.

“Not because of who you are!” She quickly clarified, “Only because I had been so vocal about what I thought I wanted before—“

“Well, if I’m being truthful, I have some of my own concerns about returning home. _Because_ of who I am.”

Some topics involving what exactly would happen when they began their new life together off this mountain had been avoided on both their parts. But Rey, despite noticing his hesitancy to talk about it, thought Ben would still be looking forward to returning to his family and society. He had come accustomed to solitude out of necessity, but he must have missed home nonetheless.

“What do you mean?” Rey replied, lightly dragging her fingers up his chest to trace his jawline.

“I didn’t leave on the best of terms with my parents. Or anyone.” His head lolled back against the stone border of the spring. As Rey continued to touch him his eyes fluttered closed.

She’d really miss this stage of bonding. When the world felt like it belonged to only them and these touches were the only thing the world asked for in return. How just looking at him made something intangible glow within her heart.

“Your mother misses you terribly. I know she does.”

While Leia hadn’t spoken of her son in some time, Rey knew what it was like the carry the weight of missing someone so horribly. And as an adult Omega who only had one child, which was rare in itself, it must have felt like her whole world was ripped from her.

“I always felt like she couldn’t wait to get rid of me. She was just counting the days until I presented. Given my bloodline, it would have been a miracle if I had ended up _normal_. But even as a child I think everyone knew that would be impossible. I had acted out a lot.”

The way his neck leaned back had Rey desperate to sink her teeth into him. There was no venom in an Omegas bite but something instinctual still called her to do it. The thought of it made it hard to swallow, and it made it even harder to focus on what he was saying.

One of the purposes of knotting was to ensure emotional bonding after physical bonding between a designated pair. But the stretch of it was still extremely invigorating and distracting.

“Rey…” Ben warned, “Your scent gland is still above water. You know I can still smell what your feeling.”

“You are distracting.”

“I’m distracting you from myself?” He opened one of his eyes and smirked. Rey’s cheeks turned red. It took everything in her power to resist the urge to rock against him again to get some sort of friction between them started. The whiplash between extreme lust to extreme guilt to extreme lust would probably kill her.

Ben’s hand slipped from her back to her face and he leaned up to stare straight at her. He willed a moment of stillness before he spoke that made her heart skip a beat.

“I just want you to know, it may not be the happy reunion you had been hoping for. I want to give you the life you deserve but you don’t know how things ended for me at home.”

She blinked, somewhat confused at the anguish in his eyes. There was genuine despair there.

“I’d been told my whole life that I’d likely be sent away. My mother didn’t give me false hope about not being an Alpha but—I didn’t handle it well. When you present as an Alpha you have nearly no time to say goodbye. No time to process. They just take you away and—“

His hands fell from her face back into the water.

“I think I had always thought, somewhere in the back of my mind, that it wouldn’t happen to me. My mother was a lawmaker. _The_ lawmaker. She could have stopped it. I may not have been able to stop myself from presenting, but the being taken part— I just didn’t think it would happen to me. I thought they would fight for me and they just let it happen. I hated them for it. I made sure they knew it when I left.”

“They knew you didn’t mean it,” Rey said, missing his aim.

“I did mean it at the time,” he said without respite, “I know they’ve tried to make up for it in the little ways they could over the years. I know I shouldn’t have expected to have been treated any differently but I hoped my mother would've seen the practice as barbaric once she had to give up her only child. She didn’t.”

Rey didn’t know what to say.

She had pitied Alphas long before today in a way. But she never envisioned them actually wanting things to be changed. She always thought they had accepted their exile as an inconvenience to be endured like an Omega and her obligation to the climb.

If she and Ben had children who presented as Alphas she would have to give them up as well. That had been their society's truth for lifetimes.

“Do you really think unmated Alphas could exist alongside others before mating?”

She’d just heard the stories. The stories about their hostility towards other Alphas. Their territorial tendencies. Their destruction.

“I—“ he seemed surprised by this question, “I’m not going to pretend that I was some model kid that never acted out.But I think with the proper resources and outlets it’s possible.”

She pressed her lips to his, then leaned her forehead against him. “I know I’ve said it before, but I’m sorry you had to wait so long to be able to live.”

“And I know I’ve said this before, but I have a feeling,” he started, holding her close, “it was worth it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for sticking with me. I really do love this little short, and I appreciate so many people found the world interesting!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I might right some sort of epilogue in the future, but for now, we are closing out the story!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like we MADE IT! As always I'll go through and do another edit pass later, but we're done!!

They had decided that the best time to descend the mountain would be as the sun set over the horizon.By the time they would reach the village most everyone would be asleep and they could avoid any undesired fanfare regarding their return. 

Caretakers were stationed alongside the mountain’s path at all hours, so as much as both Ben and Rey would have liked to avoid them as well, they were a necessary source of information regarding their placement when they returned.

Their new home. Far away from everything Rey had ever known. But a _home_ for just the two of them.

Ben had packed a few things from the den in a leather sack he’d slung over his shoulder but had left most of his things untouched. Another Alpha would take his place eventually on the mountainside and either they would reap the benefits of Ben’s more spoiled livings or the Caretakers would clean it out as if he’d never even lived there. Fifteen years erased in a blink of an eye.

Though Rey knew part of those fifteen years would always linger. As her own sort of loneliness would still haunt her. But they would try their best for each other, and it would be so much easier to take from now on.

Rey turned towards her mate, wearing nothing but one of his tunics she’d tried to cinch at the waist with a piece of twine she’d found in Ben’s things. _It was better than nothing_ , she had thought. Ben was looking into his former home one last time, and she only wished she could read his thoughts. She put her hands against his chest and tucked herself under his chin. Even this felt like a perfect fit. Every curve of her body matched perfectly to his.

“You’re heart…” she said, feeling the quickened thud against her cheek, “Are you nervous?”

“No.” But the quiver in his fingertips as they wrapped around her seemed to show otherwise. “It’s more of an excitement to get you into a new home. With some real privacy.”

His hands steadied as they grasped at her waist, lifting and whirling her just enough so she was facing the trail instead of the den’s entrance.

“You know,” Rey continued as her feet landed back on the ground, “we always have time for one more go—“

“As tempting as an offer as that is, I think we have a long night ahead of us so we should spare some energy,” he mumbled as he pressed his nose into her hair. “Again, at least until we get home.”

 _Home_. Such a foreign word.

She couldn’t entirely process the fact that in just a short time she’d have a true home.A home that they would raise their family in.And though she faced away from him, she couldn’t help but turn back, just to assure one more time he was real.

Solid and real and hers.

And Large.

She laughed. If their souls truly were divided in the heavens he must have taken the much more considerable half.

So then, in the darkness and shield of the night, they began down their path home. No more lanterns or dens to mark their journey like Rey had experienced on her way up. Just the two of them and a muddy dirt path mesilly cut out of nature. 

The Climb felt like a lifetime in the past. Though Rey could remember it, she felt like she remembered it through another’s body. Like the Rey who made the Climb was an entirely different person.

She mulled over the idea that this is what she’d been afraid of when she made her Climb. She feared to come down a different person. To come down a mindless slave to an Alpha who would suck every ounce of independence from her.

But she wasn’t that. She was happy. She was truly happy and whole unlike she ever knew possible. Her lonely soul wasn’t preordained to that fate. She actually had another half. She could be completed. And no critical Beta, or Omega for that matter, could take that from her.

She imagined her past self looking at her now. Glowering from the shadows in disgust. But all Rey wanted to do was tell that version of herself, ‘ _I promise you, It’s worth it. Everything you feel when you are with him. It’s unlike anything you were expecting.’_

The Caretakers cabin was stationed halfway down the descent.

And though it was apparent the Caretakers didn’t have any fondness for either Ben or Rey, it was decided that they loathed Ben slightly less. So he would be the one to knock.

The women who answered the door was not the one who they had seen the last few days, but her glare was as equally dissatisfied. It was like all the Caretakers had portraits of their least favorite Alphas and Omegas so they would all know who the biggest annoyances were.

“At this hour?” She said like she had been hoping she would have been long off duty by the time they decided to go home.

“We want to return with as little spectacle as possible,” Ben explained as the woman shoved her feet in her shoes, seizing a large ring of keys after she finished. She seemed utterly indifferent in his reasoning.

Rey breathed in to try to say thank you but Ben waved his hand flippantly in a way to tell her ‘don’t bother’. The woman was already ten steps ahead of them, mumbling about how she’d just gotten to the best part of a book when they’d interrupted her.

“At least we won’t be their problem anymore,” Rey said quietly as Ben retook her hand. 

—

The part of the village where the mated couples lived was uncharted territory for Rey. She had been there before, mostly for small errands, but it felt so different now that she belonged. Now that this was her home too.

They had been correct in their assessment that the time of their descent meant there would be no one waiting for them when they arrived. To their luck, all of the homes were dark with their residents safely asleep inside. Only once did Rey hear a small cry of a child from one of the homes, but that had been the only sign of life.

“You’ll be back at the Varykino house, Solo,” the Caretaker said, the first words she’d said to them directly since the cabin.

“What?” Ben replied, but not out of misunderstanding but in surprise. Like the name rang familiar for him.

“What’s that?” Rey whispered but he didn’t answer. His eyes were only wide with something that may have been intrigue or apprehension.

She was started to get tired now. Her legs felt week and her whole body was following suit. They hadn’t slept since the night prior and even then there hadn’t been an excessive amount of sleep. The line of homes that weren’t theirs felt endless and it almost seemed like they would be led out of the village entirely.

Until they reached it.

It was like she had dreamed of this home before. A pale yellow house by the lake. Perfectly beautiful and fit for just them. 

It wasn’t larger than the others they had seen, still only a single floor, but it was more beautiful than the others, at least to Rey’s eyes. Even in the darkness, it seemed to shine.

“This—this was my grandparent's home. Then my mother's.” Ben said, stopping for a beat as the Caretaker marched closer to the house. “I was born here. We lived here until my mother requested to be moved closer to the heart of the village. Since this one is so far out.”

Rey never knew. She’d always known Leia’s home to be right on the cusp of where mated pairs lived.

“Well, it’s been vacant ever since your mother and father moved out. And since your mother has no daughters by blood…” the Caretaker began but then lost interest in her own story as she took one of the keys off her ring and handed it to Ben.After all, her job was done. Rey had come back down the mountain so another Omega would be sent up and the whole process would begin for someone else.

The reality of it hit her again.

Even in the dead of night, she has the desire to run back to the unmated Omega’s and tell them what happened. She wanted to apologize or something like the sort. But not for not succeeding in what she had originally set out to do, but for thinking she wouldn’t find happiness with a mate of her own.

“Rey?” Ben’s voice vibrated through her like thunder, bringing her out of her daze, “You alright?”

Yes. But she couldn’t possibly deserve this. She said she didn’t want this and so she didn’t deserve it. She didn’t deserve the nice pale house by the lake or the other half of her tragic soul.

“You do deserve this,” he said and Rey stared. _Had she said that aloud?_ “I promise you, between the two of us, if one of us merits any of this, it’s you.”

“I feel like I’m going to wake up, and none of this will have been real.”

Her hand snaked around her waist and landed on her backside just to pinch it.

“Oy!”

“Seems real to me,” he teased and the Caretaker who’d been waiting for her chance to leave, with that, decided to take it.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go finish my novel in peace. Until another one of you lot decides to interrupt.” With that, she waddled off into the darkness.

It was over. Or just beginning. Or a bit of both.

“What do we do now?” Rey said, unexpectedly feeling aimless.

“I have a few ideas.” Ben stepped in front of her and glimpsed down at her in a way that made her knees begin to buckle. “The first thing is going inside, since it’s been a while, since I’ve, y’know. Been inside.”

Rey’s cheeks turned red even though she didn’t think Ben understood why.

Then in one fluid motion, Rey was once again off her feet and in his arms. She quickly flung her hands around his neck to stabilize herself. “You could give me a bit of a warning before you do that!”

“That’s no fun.” He placed a feather-light kiss upon her hairline and her heart picked up even faster.

He carried her effortlessly in the house, only fumbling slightly to open and close the door when they entered.And while she expected to be placed down so they could explore to interior together, he had a much different plan of destination.

“I’ll give you a proper tour later,” he said, his voice gravely and determined as he swooped into one of the bedrooms. “It doesn’t look like much has changed.”

Rey hoped they had at least changed out the bedding sometime in the last twenty years. But it had looked like the place had been cleaned in preparation for them.

With little fanfare, she was deposited down on the mattress, but that was the least of her worries. While her heat had subsided to a more manageable degree, it was still easily triggered by even the slightest scent of hormones. 

But as soon as he pressed her into the bedding, as soon as his gorgeous plush mouth began kissing down her throat, a repetitive thud echoed throughout the house.

A knock.

“Who the hell—“ Ben started before his eyes widened as if he abruptly knew the answer.

Rey, though, remained unaware. She propped herself up on her elbows and Ben stared at the direction of the door.She wanted to reach up to his cheek and turn his gaze back to her but before she could he rose off the bed.

“Who is it?” She asked him, straightening out her shirt.

“I—I’ll check.” He said, his voice more uncertain than she’d ever heard it, but then in a tone more firm he said, “Stay here.”

The Omega in her was obliged to listen.Mostly because she hoped that would mean he would return to her sooner.

But as soon as he was out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him, Rey couldn't resist crawling out of the bed just to take a peek. She cracked open the door and placed herself so she could just see Ben stride towards the knocking.

Because now Rey realized there was only one person who would come in the dead of night. One person that wouldn’t be able to wait until the morning. 

She shouldn’t watch, but she just had to be sure it was who she suspected. Who she assumed Ben had also suspected by the way he stood frighteningly still when he reached the front door.

As Rey thought _‘you can do this’_ Ben reached for the door. His shoulders tensed while his face was masked from view.

His body blocked out most of the doorway. So when the door opened to nothing but silence Rey thought maybe the visitor had left, or maybe they’d just imagined it.

“I knew it.” A woman’s voice, sounding strained and choked, said a few seconds later. “From the moment I met her, the moment I saw her all those years ago I felt it. I knew it was her. I knew she’d bring you home.”

 _Leia_.

Rey couldn’t hear if Ben had managed to answer or not, but she felt the corners of her lips raise.

Leia _had_ known. Leia _had_ known she was destined to be a part of their family.

The next thing she heard was a soft ‘ _oof_!’ and Leia’s small form launched herself at her son as she hugged him with what must have been all her might.

And while Ben seemed frozen from shock at first, he eventually softened and lowered himself to his mother's embrace. Rey barely being able to see a tear roll down Leia’s cheek.

Ben stumbled back after a moment, reveling another figure in the doorway that Rey seen or heard from. A man who stood a few steps back from Leia with that signature smirk and said, “It’s good to have you back, kid.”

And before her, even as she hid in the shadows to allow them a few more minutes together, Rey saw for the first time her family. A true family in every sense of the word. A family that would love her and she would love even in the heavens. And maybe, just maybe, she did deserve it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for reading! The success of this short story really brought me a lot of joy, and I'm glad I have this space to explore some ideas. Thank you again!   
> I may drop an epilogue one day, but for now, I've told the story I wanted to tell :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for reading! This will be another shortish fic to write in my downtime! 3-5 chapters!


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